Hello. New C3 owner and new to the site. I got my 78 SA last summer FREE!. It drives but it does need work. I'm in no hurry though, with other priorities in life I have an annual budget for the car and when I meet that, well see you next year.

The car is in fair condition. Just about everything at some point will have to be redone. Pant will go on last. The underside has held up well, which is good because the car has lived in New England its whole life.

This is a project car that currently runs. It is something for me and my youngest son to work on. Side note, I have limited (very limited) mechanical skills but I am fortunate to have a couple of friends that are mechanics and offered to supervise me during my resto.

I'm not looking to make a show car. My goal is to bring this car back to the way it looked when it rolled off the line. A solid driver that runs, sounds, and looks good. Right now, my favorite thing to do is to bring it to a local cruise night that is held each Friday night where I live.

The motor is tired and I have been mulling over what to do with it. Replace or restore??? I am leaning towards restore to keep the #'s matching. I am going to boost the hp and torque from stock. I'm looking at going to 300 hp with proportionate torque. I have found several crate motors that would fulfill this in the swipe of credit card but I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

I did recently change the intake to an Edelbrock performer, the crab to an Edelbrock 600 electric choke, I plugged the EGR. I removed the stock air cleaner housing and installed an open air cleaner. I also put on new valve covers and timing cover. There is a new water pump and timing chain too. New cap, rotor, and 8mm plug wires and plugs.

I did change the engine paint scheme from blue to orange. Only a couple of pieces of the engine compartment will be chrome and they are small. Everything else is either gloss chevy orange or black. I know, not original but I like the way it looks.

Look forward to sharing with everyone as I trudge along with my new toy. I am certainly open to pointers or assistance to those of you that have experience with a C3. Enjoy the ride.

 

welcome and good luck with the car

 

Welcome to the place. So how did you come across a free 'vette? There is probably an interesting story there. We like those. The only thing we like more is pictures!
-brent

 

Thanks man. I will work on the pics, regretfully I will have to ask my teenage son how to post pix here.

Free vette you ask? My mom. She had a 66 that my dad did a frame off on when I was a kid. They got divorced and the 66 went away. She remarried and got a 69 rag, she kept it a few years then sold it. She recently had to retire due to health her health and unfortunately she has had to deal with a lot of death in her family the last few years, so she decided it was time for another vette. So, she came into an 81 and got it for a steal, the previous owner owed the IRS $$$$$. She told me and I said to her if you go to sell it please let me give you an offer. Well, she isn't going to part with her 81 soon and she wanted me to have my own vette so she found this 78 and paid short $$$ for it and gave it to me as a farther's day gift. Needless to say, shocked, stunned, and speechless can't even describe my reaction. I thanked and still thank her all the time. Her reasoning you might ask? Between her health and multiple family deaths, she came to the conclusion you only get to do this once, life isn't a dress rehearsal, and you can't take the $ with ya. She wanted me to experience the joy (and pains) of having a vette. She's awesome! That's the story behind my 78. Ttyl

 

Welcome to the forum, congrats on the C3 and good luck with what ever you decide.

 

Congratulations and welcome!

 

Welcome aboard.....get junior to get some pics posted!!!

 

Welcome, now post some pictures!

 

Hi J9,
That's a pretty nice tale about how you came to have your 78!
Sometimes having limited $ is a good thing since it slows things down a bit and gives you time to consider the decisions you're making.
I'll be looking for some pictures too!
GOOD LUCK!
Regards,
Alan

 

Welcome aboard, Pics

 

Wow. That is great. So Mother's Day is coming up. Can you take her for a ride in it?
If you have some digitals of the car create a free photobucket account and upload them there. When you run your mouse over the photos this will pop up

Select the last one (img code) and it will copy the code you need. Then just paste it here.
Congrat's I am glad that your mom got to see how happy she made you and that you can share it with your son.
-brent

 

Well you sure can't beat the price....best of luck with your resto.

 

A Vette from Mom. That's a new one. Sounds like a Vette family and you need to make them proud. You only need money, time and lots of it. When you get frustrated walk away for awhile. Do plenty of research and show us the pics sooner rather than later. There is a link that I have seen here that shows how to post your digital pics. There are many more nice people here than some other forums. Very few flames except in jest. Many people that luv to help. Good luck!!

 

You are a very blessed man to have a mom like that, AND A VETTE!!!! Good luck with the car. This is a great place to get your questions answered.

 

Thanks to all for the great welcome. My son helped me with some pix, the site says they are pending approval so hopefully tomorrow they are up.

Anybody have any thoughts so far about my engine? Pros and cons are welcome. Replace or restore?

Thanks in advance.

 

Here are some pix of my 78. Hope this worked

 

Nice look car. Good times ahead.

 

Dude, that is a show car. With every nit-picking piece exactly the way St. Louis assembly line workers put them together back in the day.

 

Thanks man. I should further define my intent. When I do the paint it will be a good paint job but not over the top. I will keep most of the interior the same, but I am going to change the carpet. And I thought I read somewhere on here that I could put a C5 seat in my C3? True?

I already strayed from "original" with the motor paint scheme, I removed the q-jet, the valve covers are different, and when the motor is done it will probably be #'s matching but certainly not stock.

Like I said, just looking to bring this car back so it runs solid, sounds good at idle and moving, and maybe turn a head. I am meticulous when I do a project I like to get it right the first time.

Again, thanks for all the comments so far. Please anybody with some positive solid mechanical or technical info please share. i am wicked open minded about this car. Input is always welcome. That's how I am going to make this ride pissa! Thanks guys.

 

From your pictures, it looks like you have the L48 engine(if I'm wrong please correct me). If so, this block is definitely capable of getting you your required 300hp. You can spend as much as you have on an engine rebuild, so for starters:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-SBCKIT1-000/

Your biggest limitation will be the heads. Most guys here will definitely throw in their opinions on this particular option; but since you don't want to throw a ton of cash at this, try the Vortec head setup with the matching cam assembly.

Even with the 2 bolt main, you should still be in the 300hp ballpark for probably under 3 grand all in. Just my 2 cents of course - I'm sure you'll get lots of advice, the key here is to "sort through" all of the info and try to make an informed decision that meets all your requirements without breaking the bank. Good luck.

Brian